Boston College Men's Hockey at Minnesota Opponent Preview: Just a Minute

The Gophers, similar to the Eagles, foster an ice hockey program that is riddled with college hockey history—dating all the way back to the 19th century.

Boston College men's hockey (@BC_MHockey) via X.

Ever since ice hockey first became popular in the United States, Massachusetts and Minnesota were among the few states to consistently produce top talent into the professional sphere.

In 1917, four Canadian teams formed the original template for what would become the National Hockey League (NHL). Shortly after, in 1924, the Boston Bruins became the first team from the U.S. to be inducted into the league, and the official “Original Six” came together in 1942.

The Minnesota North Stars, which came before the Minnesota Wild as the original NHL franchise from Minnesota before its relocation to Dallas prior to the 1993-94 season, began play in the 1967-68 season as one of six expansion teams—the first expansion in NHL history.

But high-level ice hockey has graced the lands of both Massachusetts and Minnesota much longer than that.

The University of Minnesota formed its first unsanctioned ice hockey team back in 1895, paving the way for one of the most dominant, historic Division 1 ice hockey teams in the country to this day. In 1922, the Big-Ten conference established an ice hockey league, and Minnesota is one of the founding members.

The same goes for Boston College, which is also among the top and oldest college hockey programs in the country. The Eagles originally fielded a team from 1917 to 1929 before school officials briefly dropped the sport to cut costs in the wake of the Great Depression. 

The modern era of hockey on the Heights emerged when former player John “Snooks” Kelley agreed to coach a small group of BC students who formed a team midway through the 1932-33 season, and apart from a short break during World War II, Kelley—whom BC’s rink is named after—stayed at the helm of the program until 1972.

This is all to say that ice hockey is ingrained into the original fibers of both schools, arguably more so than any other sport. And on Thursday, the Eagles, who started the season with a 4-3 home loss to Quinnipiac, will make their 2025-26 road debut at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis, Minn., against the Gophers. 

Gearing up for our trip to Minnesota! pic.twitter.com/JphGnGyRKu

— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) October 6, 2025

The two-game series will continue Friday, with Thursday’s game scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and Friday’s for 7 p.m. ET.

BC fell to No. 11 in the latest USCHO NCAA Div. 1 hockey rankings (previously No. 6), while Minnesota fell to No. 12 (previously No. 8) after starting the year with a win and a loss in a two-game home series against the Michigan Tech Huskies.

Here is a preview of the Eagles’ upcoming opponent.

Forwards

The Gophers returned less than 40 percent of their scoring from last season, and that starts with the loss of former Minnesota winger Jimmy Snuggerud, who posted 51 points in 2024-25. Snuggerud, drafted 23rd overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2022 NHL Draft, decided to take his talents to the professional ranks instead of returning for another season, which is the biggest loss by far for head coach Bob Motzko.

Connor Kurth (39 points), Matthew Wood (39 points), Oliver Moore (33 points), and Sam Rinzel (32 points) are also testing the waters of professional ice hockey, and those five skaters alone—Snuggerud included—combined for 194 of the Gophers’ 415 points last season, which is nearly 47 percent.

Of the 15 returning players from a season ago, only three are forwards—senior Brody Lamb, junior Jimmy Clark, and sophomore Brodie Ziemer.

Lamb notched a career-high 16 goals last season along with 26 points, leading the group of returners from the 2024-25 campaign, and is one of a trio of Gophers wearing the captain’s badge this year.

Clark manufactured 17 assists last season (22 points), and Ziemer previously played on a line with Snuggerud, which bolstered his overall production (23 points, 11 goals, 12 assists).

However, Motzko worked hard over the offseason to bring in impact transfer players, and he did so in Omaha transfer forward Tanner Ludke, who had an injury-riddled sophomore season after scoring 28 points for the Mavericks as a freshman.

The Gopher freshman who came into this year with the most hype was forward LJ Mooney, the cousin of former Minnesota star Logan Cooley of the NHL’s latest franchise-expansion team, the Utah Mammoth. Mooney spent the last two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program, making 51 appearances for the U18 team in 2024-25 and tallying 10 goals and 41 assists.

Through two regular-season games, Lamb and Zeimer lead the Gophers with two goals and one assist apiece, while Clark and senior defenseman Luke Mittelstadt have notched three assists each.

Defensemen

Senior captain Cal Thomas anchors the backend, along with classmate and captain Mittelstadt—who was the lone Gopher to earn Preseason All-Big Ten honors as a second-teamer—and sophomore Leo Gruba.

Mittelstadt is not just one of the most experienced players on the team, but also in the nation—he is tied for the active lead in games played by a blueliner.

The defense is rounded out by sophomore John Whipple (6-2, 195), freshman Jacob Rombach (6-6, 210), redshirt-sophomore Max Rud (6-3, 195), freshman Finn McLaughlin (6-2, 205), and junior Alex Begley (6-2, 190).

Through only two contests, it is difficult to say how the Gophers’ D-men compare to a season ago, when Minnesota went 25-11-4 and reached the Fargo Regional in Fargo, N.D., before ultimately falling to UMass Amherst in the first round, 5-4, in overtime.

Thomas and Whipple lead the Gophers in shots blocked through two matchups with seven apiece.

Goaltenders

Similar to how Motzko conducted his goalie operation last year, with Nathan Airey and Liam Souliere splitting time in net, Airey—back for his junior campaign—and Michigan State transfer Luca Di Pasquo have split the Gophers’ first two games of the year.

Airey’s number was called on for the first start of the year, in which Minnesota picked up a 6-3 win over Michigan Tech, making 25 saves with a save percentage of .893 and relinquishing three goals. In 2024-25, Airey (6-3, 195) was named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List with 17 starts, finishing the season with a 12-3-2 record, a 2.47 goals-against average, and a .900 save percentage.

Di Pasquo, meanwhile, suffered the first loss of his young Gopher career in a 5-3 decision that fell in favor of the visiting Huskies. 

Di Pasquo (6-1, 195), who backed up Trey Augustine for the Spartans in 2024-25, allowed four of the five goals against Michigan Tech last Saturday—the last goal consisted of a Huskies’ empty-netter.

Wheels up to Minnesota! ✈️ pic.twitter.com/UaBtgFWNvu

— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) October 8, 2025